By Brook Cox

NORTH LOGAN -- Changes to the city code relating to foster care, proctor care, and host homes were unanimously approved Oct. 21 by the City Council.

The changes state that four foster children or one proctor child, or three proctor children if they are siblings, are allowed to reside in a home licensed for proctor or foster care.

Proctor children are different from foster children in that they have been in trouble with the law.

"We would really do a disservice to our city to allow three proctor children in one home," council member Trent Wentz said.

Wentz and the council also said it would be unlikely to have a situation in which three proctor-care siblings would need to live in the same home, and so the majority of such homes would only have one proctor child.

Council members agreed that this is an important program and needs support, but they want to closely monitor it.

The council also voted unanimously to support the possibility of building an ice arena in Cache Valley for the 2002 Olympics, but only with the participation of Logan city government.

Olympic committees are asking smaller Cache Valley cities if they would be supportive of an ice arena, council member Gordon Younker said. The council talked about supporting it with money from a tax refund expected from the state in July 2000, or supporting it by building a road to the arena.

In other business, the council:

--Discussed the library's progress toward opening to the public. The library has been sprayed for bugs and will continue to be sprayed monthly until the bugs, most of which are a type of box elder bug, are eliminated, council member Trent Wentz said. The problem with the alarm system has been solved by moving the sensors toward the doors, away from the lights that were causing them to malfunction, and the problem of snags in the carpet has been taken care of, Wentz said.

--Heard from council member Wayne Watkins about a former resident of North Logan, BYU Professor Jesse Embry, who has compiled oral histories and other information into a book about North Logan. The book contains the history of the city between 1934 and 1970. Embry has offered to donate the copyright of the book to the city of North Logan, but they would have to pay the publisher $6,000 for 1,500 copies of the book. The council is considering accepting Embry's donation. Members like the idea of being able to make money from the book, but are skeptical of being able to sell all 1,500 books.

--Discussed creating an ordinance that would prohibit the use of engine brakes in the city. Council members said that most cities have a ordinace concerning engine brakes, and members agreed that North Logan would benefit from one.

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